Thursday, March 4, 2010

A boyz day out.

'The font' is away in London looking after family so Wilf and Digby have been left in my tender care. Yesterday we drove into the local market town for a boyz day out. From the car park we made a direct bee line to the butchers, then across the square to the fish shop, around under the arcades to the cheese shop, before finally honing in on the boulangerie. At each point on our route a brief pause was made while heads were thrown back and nostrils filled with the enticing scents. For my canine companions there could have been no more satisfying day out. That upon reflection is not entirely true - Wilf and Digby would have found it infinitely more satisfying if they'd been allowed to savour the contents of each of the places visited. The local hardware store has now started to stock some rather fine Anduze pots which I have dutifully photographed.

With no one around to impose a proper sense of order on our lives the three of us stayed up late playing catch and watching tv . For the Six Nations Rugby we (I) had a satellite dish installed. After four months without television I now find myself channel surfing with the best of them. Of particular interest is a channel called 'Movies4Men' which screens long forgotten and badly acted epics of daring adventure . Most of these seem to star Robert Mitchum in stirring war like settings - last night he single handedly managed to ram a German submarine with his crippled destroyer . Riveting stuff. I wonder what they called 'straight to video' movies in the days before video?

A more than slightly malodorous whiff from Wilfs nether regions reminds me that bathtime is long overdue. It is a couple of months since dog and soapy water have come into contact. Remedial action is no longer just desirable but necessary. After our last knee deep in water bathing experience I am going to try a new technique. Another PON family ( thank you Edward and Apple) commented on the blog that they always wash their PON's in the shower thereby containing the bulk of the water within the shower stall. What sensible advice. Pictures of two gleaming white dogs to follow tomorrow.

11 comments:

I have to agree with kks. I have friends who wash their Scotties in the shower and my son washes his dog (small ratty thing - the dog, not my son) in the shower too. I've thought it might be something one should start as a puppy so I've never had the nerve to try it with my adult dogs - GOOD LUCK!

My mom washes her sheltie in the shower, too! We have a detachable shower head, so we put the greyhounds in the shower and then just turn the water on them. It works quite well! I'm not sure I want to see pictures of the shower scene, but the ladies in the art class might! ;)

Ah yes, the shower is the only way to go. Of course, it remains a two man effort, as I usually wait by a stack of thick towels with my brush and my blow dryer. They come running to me, indignant and wet, and plop down to be blow-dried and puffied. Even rolling on their backs to feel the warm air on their tummies. What a life, eh? Have fun!

I tried the shower stall technique, and it didn't work for me. The reason was that I don't have hand-held shower nozzle (at least that's what the 'experts' told me). I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you!

Looking forward to those photos!

Funny, same thing for me when my 'font' leaves town. My schedule becomes fluid, and I do all sorts of lazy things that I wouldn't do otherwise...

We echo the shower approach -- although the post-bathtime frenetic activity -- running wild, the shakes of all shakes, and full-body rubbing against all available walls to get that last bit of moisture -- even after being dried by human hands and dryer -- is impossible to contain.

Loved those pots. And also the memory of going from shop to shop to shop after work in Paris while munching on a bit of the baguette under my arm as the boulangerie came first.

Love the hair sticking straight up. Looks like it need a touch of blue on the tips for a bad boy look. teehee. SHE washes us in the tub but tosses us in the shower for shakies. She puts down a big towel on the floor to contain most of the run off and so we can wipe our faces, then she shuts the door till we've shaken ourselves mostly dry. Puffy is very fluffy and he's like a big ole sponge with the water.

You guys have the most interesting walkies. I must annoy my peeps to do better with the walkies and not take so many pictures of the road.

About Me

2004, we sell the rain drenched farm in Scotland and move to the warmth of southern Europe. Two very lively Polish Lowland Sheepdog brothers - Wilf and Digby - accompany us. Fluffy,patient and comical . Forever attracting laughter and new friends . After a year in Provence we moved to Italy to restore an ancient Roman watchtower . Somethings are meant not to be. Following a rather unpleasantly violent 'housejacking' ( the third in our little village ) we left Italy in late 2009 for new adventures in the rolling countryside of south west France . We are now getting to grips with a large rickety old farmhouse. Life after the violence of Italy has a gentler tempo. Digby passed on from piroplasmosis in May 2010. HIs brother, despite being diagnosed with cancer and having become blind ,soldiered on for another two years. We now embark on the next part of our journey with two new PON's - Bob and Sophie. This blog records all those little things about living with dogs that are too unimportant to make it into a diary but which make life, life.